The body includes various passageways through which bodily matter or fluids, such as urine, can flow. The flow of material through the passageways is in part affected by tissue surrounding the passageways. For example, the tissue can constrict and cause a passageway to narrow or to close, thereby restricting flow of material through the passageway.
In some disorders, the tissue can no longer affect a passageway. For example, while urine normally flows down in one direction from the kidneys, through tubes called ureters, and to the bladder, in vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), urine can flow abnormally from the bladder back into the ureters. In gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), sometimes called “reflux”, acid from the stomach can flow back into the swallowing tube, or esophagus. Other disorders include, for example, urinary incontinence, i.e., loss of urinary control, and fecal incontinence.
One method of treating such disorders includes placing, e.g., injecting, a bulking material in the tissue adjacent to the passageway. The bulking material can narrow the passageway and, by providing bulk, allows the tissue to constrict the passageway more easily.